A strange object flying close to the sun looks unnervingly like a huge, metallic 'mothership' familiar from Hollywood blockbusters.

The picture was released by Nasa's sun-watching Solar and
Heliospheric Observatory, known as SOHO - and has become an immediate cult hit on the internet.

UFO fan site Gather News said: ‘An unusually shaped, gigantic UFO was spotted
on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and posted in a video on
YouTube.

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UFO fan site News Gather said: 'An unusually shaped, gigantic UFO was spotted on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and posted in a video on YouTube.'

An enlargement of the object makes the enormously large UFO look like a ship straight out of a Hollywood movie

‘The unidentified flying object, which bears no resemblance to anything ever spotted near the Sun, somehow manages to withstand the blazing heat thrown off by solar flare activity and the incredibly high temperatures emanating from nuclear fusion generated on the surface of the star. What is it?' asked the site.

UFO fans on YouTube have been highly enthusiastic about the object, with many claiming it as a definite 'spot'.

SOHO, the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory, is a satellite built to study the Sun from its deep core to the outer corona and the solar wind.

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The twelve instruments on board SOHO communicate with large radio dishes around the world which form NASA's Deep Space Network are used for data downlink and commanding.

‘The video shows what looks like a metallic, jointed spaceship with a
gigantic extension, perhaps a boom arm, anchored off its lower end.

'An
enlargement of the object makes the enormously large UFO look like a
ship straight out of a Hollywood movie.'

Alien spacecraft? Observers pointed out that the 'jointed' arms of the object near the sun are very similar to fictional interstellar craft

The unidentified flying object, which bears no resemblance to anything ever spotted near the Sun, somehow manages to withstand the blazing heat of the sun

I took a screenshot and added light to it and you can see another part of the ship. It has another third arm that goes down. So strange.﻿ Keep up the great work,' says one UFO fan.

Others are more sceptical, claiming such artefacts are often the product of distortion hitting SOHO's sensors.

‘There is no way this object is merely vapour, as the shape of it is
rigidly straight and grooved and appears to be manufactured in some way,' says the UFO fan site. 'Also, there seems to be some intelligent design involved. It's beyond
human engineering to create.'